Topeka Pilots
The Topeka Roadrunners is a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's Southern Division. The team's home arena is the 7,777-seat Landon Arena in Topeka, Kansas. History Lone Star Cavalry The Lone Star Cavalry were granted an expansion franchise in the America West Hockey League in March 2003. They stayed in the league when it merged with the North American Hockey League for the 2003-2004 season. The Cavalry played out of the Blue Line Ice Complex in North Richland Hills, Texas and served the immediate "Mid-Cities" area of Metro Dallas-Fort Worth. The Cavalry were part of the “new” NAHL’s South Division along with the Central Texas Blackhawks, Fairbanks Ice Dogs, Springfield (MO) Spirit, Texas Tornado, Texarkana Bandits and Wichita Falls Rustlers. Santa Fe Roadrunners After financial difficulties caused the Cavalry’s home rink, the Blue Line Ice Complex, to close, the Cavalry were left without a home, due to this and other factors the Cavalry ended up being sold and relocated to Santa Fe. The team was granted membership on September 20th,2004 and began play on September 25th,2004 under their new identity as the Santa Fe Roadrunners. The Santa Fe Roadrunners played out of the Genoveva Chavez Community Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In their inaugural season in New Mexico, the Roadrunners played in the South Division, against the Central Texas Marshals, Springfield (IL) Junior Blues, Springfield (MO) Spirit, Texarkana Bandits, Texas Tornado and the Wichita Falls Wildcats, finishing with a 33-15-8 record, good for 3rd place in the division. The following season they finished dead last in the South Division behind the Texas Tornado, Texarkana Bandits, Springfield (IL) Junior Blues, and the Wichita Falls Wildcats. The third and final season in Santa Fe saw the Roadrunners finishing with a 41-17-4 record for 2nd place in a South Division which consisted of the St. Louis Bandits, Texas Tornado, Fairbanks Ice Dogs, Wichita Falls Wildcats, and the Alaska Avalanche. Topeka Roadrunners On 26 February 2007, the team announced their move to Topeka from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Poor attendance was said to be the reason for the move to Topeka. Santa Fe ranked 17th out of 18 teams in attendance. The move to Topeka was initiated by a grass roots effort, led by hockey fans from Topeka. In 2005 Topeka Hockey 07' set a goal to obtain an interested owner to believe in the vision they had and be playing in Topeka in 2007 giving the franchise enough time to build a relationship with the city and its business community. Topeka Hockey '07 was founded by two guys with a passion for the game, Mike Cline and Jason "The Bucketman" Simonsen with the interest of finding an owner that could make money in Topeka. Topeka Hockey '07, had built a business model and sent out packets to teams in markets all across the country looking for one of them to either relocate or expand and buy a second franchise to play in the NAHL in Topeka, KS. In their first season in Topeka, 2007-2008, they were third in league attendance. That season the team won the NAHL South Division and South Division Playoffs. They finished in third place at the Robertson Cup competition. The 2008-2009 season saw the Roadrunners finishing fourth in league attendance and 2nd in the South Division. The team lost in the second round of the South Division playoffs. In 2009-2010 The Roadrunners finished first in the South Division, and they were second in attendance. A July 9, 2015 article in the Topeka-Capital Journal announced the RoadRunners had a new three year lease approved by the Shawnee County Commission to be able to stay in Wichita. This had followed four months of contentious lease negotiations that stalled on more than one occasion; leaving the future of the team in Topeka in doubt. which included reports that the team was relocating to the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. On April 18, 2018 the NAHL announced that the team was sold by Don Stone who had owned the team since 2009, to Lamar Hunt, Jr. and his Loretto Sports Ventures Group, which also owns the Kansas City Mavericks of the ECHL. The ownership group reaffirmed its commitment to the city of Topeka. As part of the announcement Simon Watson was named new GM and head coach. The team was renamed on June 5, 2018 to the Topeka Pilots. and was renamed the Topeka Pilots on June 5, 2018. Season-by-season records Playoffs *2005 :First Round – Texarkana Bandits defeated Santa Fe Roadrunners, 3-games-to-1 *2007 :First Round – Texas Tornado defeated Santa Fe Roadrunners, 3-games-to-2 *2008 :Division Semifinals – Topeka RoadRunners defeated Texas Tornado, 3-games-to-0 :Division Final – Topeka RoadRunners defeated Fairbanks Ice Dogs, 3-games-to-2 :Robertson Cup Round Robin – Topeka RoadRunners (2-1) - Advance to Semifinal, (W, 3-2 vs. Phantoms; W, 4-2 vs. Blizzard; L, 2-5 vs. Bandits) :Robertson Cup Semifinal Game – Mahoning Valley Phantoms defeated Topeka RoadRunners, 5-2 *2009 :Division Semifinals – Topeka RoadRunners defeated Wichita Falls Wildcats, 3-games-to-2 :Division Finals – St. Louis Bandits defeated Topeka RoadRunners, 3-games-to-1 *2010 :Division Semifinals – Topeka RoadRunners defeated Springfield Jr. Blues, 3-games-to-1 :Division Finals – St. Louis Bandits defeated Topeka RoadRunners, 3-games-to-2 *2011 :Division Semifinals – Topeka RoadRunners defeated Wichita Falls Wildcats, 3-games-to-2 :Division Finals – Amarillo Bulls defeated Topeka RoadRunners, 3-games-to-2 *2012 :Division Semifinals – Topeka RoadRunners defeated Texas Tornado, 3-games-to-0 :Division Finals – Amarillo Bulls defeated Topeka RoadRunners, 3-games-to-1 *2013 :Division Semifinals – Texas Tornado defeated Topeka RoadRunners, 3-games-to-0 *2014 :Division Semifinals – Topeka RoadRunners defeated Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, 3-games-to-0 :Division Finals – Topeka RoadRunners defeated Amarillo Bulls, 3-games-to-2 :Robertson Cup Semifinals – Austin Bruins defeated Topeka RoadRunners, 2-games-to-1 *2015 :First Round – Topeka RoadRunners defeated Wichita Falls Wildcats, 3-games-to-1 :Robertson Cup Quarterfinals – Lone Star Brahmas defeated Topeka RoadRunners, 3-games-to-1 *2016 :Division Semifinals – Topeka RoadRunners defeated Lone Star Brahmas, 3-games-to-1 :Division Finals – Wichita Falls Wildcats defeated Topeka RoadRunners, 3-games-to-1 Players Team captains * Eric Trax: 2003-2004 Lone Star Cavalry * Andrew Johnson: 2004-2005 Santa Fe RoadRunners * Brandon Vossberg: 2005-2006 Santa Fe RoadRunners * John Stoddard: 2006-2007 Santa Fe RoadRunners, 2007–2008 Topeka RoadRunners * Matt Hartmann: 2008-2009 Topeka RoadRunners * Kurtis Anton: 2009-2010 Topeka RoadRunners * Michael Hill/Jordan Davis: 2010-2011 Topeka RoadRunners * Chris Bond: 2011-2012 Topeka RoadRunners * Drew Kariofiles: 2012-2013 Topeka RoadRunners * Jared Tafoya: 2013-2014 Topeka RoadRunners * Mike Gornall: 2014-2015 Topeka RoadRunners * Cam Strong / Dominic Lutz: 2015-16 Topeka RoadRunners Honored members Retired numbers: The Topeka RoadRunners have officially retired two numbers in their franchise history, the 11 of forward and team captain John Stoddard, and the 21 of Peter Halash. On January 6, 2014, Topeka Roadrunner Peter Halash died in a car wreck. The Roadrunners team had a jersey retirement ceremony before a game against the Springfield Jr. Blues on March 23, 2014 where all of his family and friends came to remember the life of Peter Halash. Alumni The RoadRunners have had a number of alumni move on to NCAA Division I, NCAA Division III, ACHA Division I and II, higher levels of junior ice hockey, and professional ice hockey, including: *Cody Chupp (2003–04, Lone Star Cavalry) – Played for the Texas Stars and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL and the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. *Eriah Hayes (2007-08, Topeka RoadRunners) - Plays for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Previously played for the San Jose Sharks of the NHL *Cole Schneider (2009–10, Topeka RoadRunners) – Plays for the Rochester Americans of the AHL. He also played for the Binghamton Senators of the AHL. References External links *Official Site *Topeka Hockey Fan Discussion Board *Capital-Journal Story *NAHL website *Booster Club Site Category:North American Hockey League team Category:American ice hockey teams